Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

An organization that I feel has a strong social media strategy is Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and their own personal blog. They have a great habit of not only promoting their organization but also their present and past patients. CHOA’s social media is filled with information about their organization such as any national fundraisers going on, awards they’ve won, or celebrities that have visited their hospitals. I feel that CHOA has made a conscious effort to turn the negative connotations that people have about hospitals into a positive feelings of hopefulness through the use of social media. CHOA does this by sharing heartfelt stories, engaging with their public and sharing helpful information such as flu symptoms, when you should see a doctor and tips on how to safe with new toys such as hoverboards.

Ms. Dudek happens to be one of my friends that teaches in the Atlanta area!

One way that CHOA has been able to do this is through their Hope & Will campaign. This campaign consists of two cartoon characters created by the hospital that eventually became their mascots. The two characters represent “the hopeful attitude and strong will of the patients, families and staff”. CHOA encourages people who have a Hope & Will doll to bring them on adventures and share pictures of them. This tactic not only creates a “feel good vibe” towards the hospital but also gets the general public involved in their organization. Members of the community who may not have had a recent experience with CHOA can still be active and engaged through this tactic.

Another tactic that Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta uses is making an effort to share stories of the children that have visited one of their 30 locations throughout the Atlanta area. CHOA will share stories of some of their patients that are currently in the hospital or will give updated information about their past patients. This tactic shows their publics that they truly care for their patient’s wellbeing even after they’ve left the hospital.

I find that Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s strategy is so strong that I consistently find myself endorsing their social media presence. While many of their followers may be in this level of engagement, according to their social media pages there are some followers that have fallen into the level of contribution. Scrolling through CHOA’s tweets, you can see many replies to individuals from the organization. Where it’s a respond to an invitation from another organization or them asking individuals about their experience in one of the hospitals, CHOA makes an effort to respond to those who are contributing to their social media presence. Their content is not only relevant to every day life but the captions that accompany their photos are heartfelt and sincere. CHOA makes an effort to try to share the same information across all of their social media but will cater some content to a specific platform to keep their followers engaged. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s social media has been successful in reaching beyond its audience of just patient’s and their families. Their social media presence has been so engaging and positive that their audience spreads beyond those that are sick.